Determination of Risk Factors of the Youth for Coronary Heart Disease Based on Gender

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the risk factors of the youth for coronary heart disease.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was completed with 216 students who were studying in a university located in Kayseri and selected for the sample by using the stratified simple random sampling method.

Results: In the study, 40.3% of the university students were 20-21 years old, 69% were female, and 21.3% had the history of heart disease in their family. 47.8% of the male students were smoker, 17.9% were drinking alcohol, 22.4% did not do physical exercise and no significant difference was determined compared to the female students (p<0.05). More than 65% of the university students described themselves as stressed. 20.1% of the female students and 35.8% of the male students were eating fast food. It was found that BMI and body fat percentage of the male students were significantly higher than female students. On the other hand, waist-to-hip ratio of the female students was significantly higher than the male students. In addition, the male students had higher systolic (p = .001) and diastolic blood pressures (p = .004).

Conclusion: This study showed that young people were at risk for coronary heart disease. This reveals the importance of recognizing risky behaviors among young people and conducting studies to encourage young people for lifestyle change.